Wrist injury forces Nishikori out of Cincinnati

NEW YORK: Japan’s Kei Nishikori (pic) has become the latest top 10 player to pull out of this week’s Cincinnati Masters after the world number nine withdrew from the US Open warm-up event due to pain from a long-standing right wrist injury.

The 27-year-old, who had been seeded fifth and given a first-round bye, had flown to the host city before making the call to withdraw.

“Unfortunately I will not be able to play in Cincy,” Nishikori wrote on his official app.

“Today (Sunday) during practice I felt a sharp pain in my right wrist and we are now visiting with the medical specialists to discuss the diagnosis.

“We will provide more details after we have more information.”

Nishikori has been dealing with the nagging wrist pain all season.

The Japanese star played through the injury before being knocked out in the quarter-finals at the Miami Open in March, and the injury also forced him to forfeit his quarter-final match-up against Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open in May.

Nishikori joins world number one Andy Murray, last year’s champion Marin Cilic, US Open winner Stan Wawrinka and 12-times Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic on the list of players skipping the Cincinnati Masters through injury.

Both Wawrinka (knee) and Djokovic (elbow) have opted to end their seasons early to recover from their ailments, while Murray (hip) faces the prospect of losing his top ranking should either Rafa Nadal or Roger Federer win the Cincinnati event.

The US Open is the final Grand Slam of the year and runs from Aug 28-Sept 10 in New York.

— Reuters